You Can’t Take It With You, But You Can Send It On Ahead
My husband says he has never seen a hearse with a U-Haul trailer behind it.
It has been said that there’s nothing wrong with possessing riches, but there’s everything wrong with riches possessing you. For one thing, you really can’t take it with you: “For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can’t carry anything out” (1 Timothy 6:7 WEB).
On the other hand, you really can send treasures on ahead: Jesus said, “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21 WEB).
People talk about “filthy lucre,” but money itself is neither good nor bad. It is the love of money and what we do with money that gets people into trouble: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10 WEB).
Are you rich? Here’s what Paul told Timothy to tell the rich people in Timothy’s congregation:
Charge those who are rich in this present world that they be not arrogant, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to share; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19 WEB)
And what if you’re not so rich? Here’s what Jesus has to say to the rest of us:
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you of little faith? “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first God’s Kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:30-33 (WEB)
Margot Armer
